Dos.

Celebrating my sweet boy's 2nd birthday yesterday was bittersweet. Although I love to watch him grow older, it still feels like yesterday that we just took him home from the hospital.

For Cy's second birthday, we celebrated at the imPOSSIBLE Dream Playground in Warwick, RI. This particular playground is amazing because A. it is huge and B. it was created for every type of developmental age and physicality. And, most of the playground is wheelchair accessible. So it was nice to know that our payment to have the party there was going towards a place geared towards every type of child.

Because we had the party somewhere other than at home I didn't go crazy with the decor this year. I also scrapped the photo booth idea as we simply don't have a place to store it after we were done with it. (It's on the back burner for future parties though). And although I didn't go crazy with decor, the party still had some of my signature special touches.

I always like to include a invitation on the buffet table and my mini chalk board celebrating the Birthday Boy.

The blue polka dot napkins were my inspiration in running with the blue theme. All food and the cake came from my family bakery - Buono's Bakery located in Providence, RI.

One of Cy's favorite activities is stacking so I decided to make a table full of wooden blocks, favors, silly glasses and bubbles for some indoor fun!

I also used all of Cy's wooden toys on the tables as centerpieces...as you can see, they were pretty popular among the younger set!

All in all it was a wonderful party with wonderful memories. I can't believe my little boy is already two. Happy Birthday, Cy! 

#Dos.

Photo Booth Fever

One of the things I love about having an Engineer as a husband is that when I conjure up something, The Mister can usually build it!

A lot of the things I come up with are usually random upgrades around the house, but for the last two years, I have come up with some sort of SOMETHING for Cy's birthday party. Last year, it was a drink/paper goods holder I saw on Pinterest -

Also at last year's party, we had a (somewhat ghetto) photo booth. It wasn't exactly labeled as such and it didn't get much use. So I am on a mission this year to build (for TM to build) a suitable photo booth that we can have for years to come. Here is the rough sketch of it...PVC piping is going to be our best friend...

We shall see how this beauty turns out. I think it's going to be amazing and I foresee a homemade photo booth at all of our future parties!

5 Tips to Throwing the Perfect Summer Bash

With Cy's second (!) birthday well on it's way, I have been wearing my party planning hat lately to make sure all the details are taken care of for the big day. While we are not having it at our house this year, I still want to make sure that the location we are having it at is in tip top party shape. The Mister, Cy and I went to scope out the party room this past weekend and it looks like it will be fine to work my magic on...minus the (sort of dreadful) snow flakes hanging from the ceiling that I am told can not be taken down...alas, my creative mind will just have to work around the snow flake dilemma. 

#HostessWithTheMostess

With all of my party plans happening in the next few months, I thought I would post 5 tips to throwing the perfect summer bash -

1. Invites must go out a full month (if not 6 weeks ahead of time) - I don't know about all of you, but The Mister and my social calendar explodes in the summer. We are usually doing something every weekend (if not every other weekend) from Memorial Day - Labor Day. So, with all of that being said, give people enough time to plan...especially in the summer months!

2. Always include something for your guests to sign - This is a weird one and typically only applies to milestone parties (birthday, graduations etc) but I think it's a good rule to follow. When we had our memorial day party, I had my mom sew up some white table cloths, put some washable markers as the centerpieces and viola! A guest book! At Cy's first birthday party I had all of the guests sign a Dr. Seuss book. You'll never regret being able to pull these types of things out in 20 years to read!

3. If you are throwing a kid centered party, have favors for the adults too - After all, the adults are the ones that do most of the "party work." Getting the kids to the party, buying the present etc. They should be rewarded for that! Even if it is just a little something, the best party planners always think of every detail!

4. When you have a theme, run with it. - I mentioned this in a vintage (LOL) blog post. Every little thing, should be a little thing. Centerpieces? Theme them. Photo booth? Theme it. Snowflakes on the ceiling that you "can't" take down? Cut them down anyway. (Just (kinda) kidding on that one).

5. Use Pinterest sparingly - If you hang out around this blog often, you know my stance on Pinterest. No one wants to go to the same Pinterest party (or wedding, but that's a whole 'nother blog post) 7 times in one summer. Use Pinterest as a stepping off point in your idea. Be creative and elaborate and come up with your own ideas. Don't be a #PinterestPartyMoocher!

Throw Back Thursday {A Very Disney Christmas}

I was perusing my external hard drive the other day and came across pictures from a Christmas party we had in 2012 with The Mister's family. I had never posted any pictures or deets so I thought I would do that today for #tbt. Enjoy!

This was the invitation..

I like to either make my own invitations or order them off Etsy or Shutterfly. I just love me a printed invitation!

Here was the tablescape...

Since we do not have a dining room table, we rented the tables, chairs, linens and napkins. All the dishware is from Crate and Barrel. I made the Mickey head centerpiece out of three foam balls painted black and a wooden skewer. 

I made the favors out of mini Chinese take out boxes purchased at iParty and the buttons I got at WalMart. White Mickeys on one side and black on the other. There were Hershey Kisses inside the boxes.

I always have to have fresh flowers on any of my party tables...fake flowers make me cringe. 

Candy cane seating assignments made out of mini candy canes, scrap book paper and clear labels. 

The pop of color of the black and white party; the kids/princess table for the three princesses of the family (our three nieces).

And no Christmas party would be complete without a dessert/hot chocolate bar! I make my hot chocolate in the crock pot. You can find the recipe here. I personally like to add a little (or a lot) of caramel vodka to my hot coco after I pour it into my mug. Just for an added kick!

#PartyPlanner4Hire